Fish en Papillote, or Fish wrapped in Paper

Most white fish, like hake, trout and other such contain high levels of protein, phosphorus and nutritious fatty acids which are great not just for your waistline, but also for your hair, skin and stomach. Moreover, white fish is really easy to digest, and is often featured in many menus meant for the health-conscious.

The term “en papillote” means to cover with parchment or paper, and here, the fish would be cooked inside a paper bag, inside an oven, to ensure that the fish is perfectly cooked, and yet without a single drop of oil.

The recipe thus makes it easy for you to follow your diet regime while not compromising on the taste. Here we will use sturdy parchment paper to make individual bags for each diner.

Ingredients:

4 white fish fillets, deboned and skinned

1 lemon, sliced into rounds

2 tablespoon chopped parsley

4 tablespoon white fish stock or white wine or water

1 bell pepper, sliced fine

1 tsp. minced garlic

½ cup zucchini, cut into matchsticks

Salt to taste

Pepper to taste

Parchment paper

Procedure:

Mix together the garlic with the parsley, bell pepper and zucchini. Set aside. Salt and pepper both sides of the fish fillet. Pre-heat the oven to 180 degree centigrade.

Take a large square of parchment paper and fold it in half. Set the piece of fish in the center of the paper, and top with a fourth of the zucchini-garlic mixture. Fold the parchment paper, and make it into a bag.

Put in 1 tablespoon of the fish stock or white wine or water over the fish, and close the bag. Put the bags in the oven, and cook for 20 minutes. Remove, and serve the fish while still in the bag, to the diners.

Interactive food makes people feel more interested in their food. If you do not have parchment paper, aluminum foil can work as well. Also, this recipe can be cooked in the microwave, but the time to cook it will be much less. You will have to adjust according to the microwave settings.